Fire Drill
Two out of the three Landfill vee-hickles are in dire need of gasoline. One of those two (the cute little blue one) cannot currently be filled up because I cannot get the door to the gas cap open. It feels like the lever doesn’t work. Is it frozen? I don’t know. It could be. The salt-encrusted green vee-hickle is also out of gas but I *think* I can open the door to the gas cap. I have no idea whether The Indefatigable needs gasoline because the gas gauge hasn’t worked in a couple years. So the firedrill was:
- Put on a whole bunch of winter gear including ski band, scarf, snowboots, and gloves.
- Double-check to make sure there are *two* keys to each vee-hickle in the basket. Just in case those vee-hickles randomly decide to lock themselves while they’re sitting out there running to heat up the windows and melt some ice.
- Grab a key to each vee-hickle.
- Start the salt-encrusted green vee-hickle, turn the front and rear defroggers on and crank up the heat.
- Start the cute little blue vee-hickle, turn the front and rear defroggers on and crank up the heat.
- Shovel the sidewalk, part of the driveway, and the next-door neighbor’s sidewalk.
- Brush a few inches of snow off of the windows of each vee-hickle with a broom.
- Back the cute little blue vee-hickle out into the snow-filled street.
- Put the flashers on in the cute little blue vee-hickle and leave it running in the snow-filled street.
- Run up the partially shoveled driveway to the salt-encrusted green vee-hickle.
- Back the salt-encrusted green vee-hickle out into the snow-filled street.
- Put the flashers on in the salt-encrusted green vee-hickle and leave it running in the snow-filled street.
- Run through the snow-filled street back to the cute little blue vee-hickle.
- Drive the cute little blue vee-hickle up the partially shoveled driveway, shut it off and lock it.
- Run down the partially shoveled driveway.
- Get into the salt-encrusted green vee-hickle and slide and slither off down the snow-filled street.
I’ll be laughing about this by about an hour from now, I know. But at the moment, I just feel stressed out and tired. And we won’t talk about some of the other firedrills encountered today.
February 14th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
JHMK – I’ll have to tell you *my* fire drill story – ongoing since last Friday – over a manhattan or 4 …
February 14th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
The day before the contingent of brothers went to Cincinnati a few weeks back, there had been considerable lake effect and subsequent formation of ice. I went to the Marathon station across the street from where I park here at school to fill up before the trip. Popped the flippy door-release thinger, walk to the flippy door . . .
. . . and it’s not open. Try again? Still no open.
Turns out there was a buildup of ice along the bottom of the flippy door and it managed to work its way INSIDE. Spent a good five minutes clearing ice out with the careful use of one of the many keys on my ring, and *finally* managed to get it open. Thank goodness there wasn’t enough ice to completely freeze the tank access; the seal came out just fine.
. . . There’s a very noisy party next door. I’m debating playing a rousing rendition of some of the louder marching band/brass music in my repertoire.